text:
The surgery is expected to take place Tuesday, and Mitch McGary will not be the same afterward. He hopes he'll be better: free of the discomfort, free of the energy-draining effects of back pain, prepared for a renewed lease on his athletic life.
Michigan won't be the same, either. Instead of the expected national championship contender, the Wolverines will be a team hoping to build on the considerable remaining talent toward a challenge for the Big Ten title and a "deep run" in the NCAA Tournament.
"Deep run" is code for: We think you're good, but not good enough to win it.
Sporting News confirmed Friday morning what ESPN is reporting, that McGary's surgery is expected to end his sophomore season. He will begin rehab after his surgery and the length of that rehab still is undetermined.
It is a sad story, though one whose ending is far from being determined. But what McGary needs least of all is those who do not know him or what was possible for him reimagining the facts of his circumstance.
After his astonishing performance in last season's NCAAs, when he started all six games of the Wolverines' run to the title game and averaged 14.3 points and 10.7 rebounds – those being six of only eight starts of his freshman season – McGary faced the decision of whether to turn professional. He opted to join classmate and friend Glenn Robinson in returning for a second season.
McGary had shown an amazing collection of basketball skills in the tournament, from his jumpshooting to his passing against the Syracuse zone to his punishing board work and his all-out energy throughout every performance. NBA talent analysts – Chad Ford at ESPN.com, Jonathon Givony at DraftExpress.com – pegged him as a mid-first-round pick before any of the actual pre-draft testing and trials took place. Some had him as low as the 20s.
So spare him the "coulda-been-a-lottery-pick" nonsense. If he'd left last year, he probably would have been selected in the later portion of the first round, and that's a tenuous position to be. It's not so hard to slip out of the first round altogether.
McGary thought he was better than that, and it was not a small factor in his return.
"That was part of it," McGary told me back in October at Big Ten media day. "Last year, I didn't really show what I could do. I didn't really showcase my skill set. I just did what the team needed. This summer was crucial to me. I worked on differnet skills, expanded my game out on the perimeter and in the low post. This second year, having a second year under my belt, will make me more mature."
He and Robinson decided together to return and excel, to make a consistently greater impact. McGary dazzled during the summer with his play during the team's official workouts. It was the same as the year before with guard Trey Burke: He'd gone from a fine college player to a pro-level talent as his first offseason advanced. He worked to become a more proficient shooter on the perimeter, to develop his post game. He wanted to dominate games with his production, not just his energy.
"People have only seen the sample size of what I can do," McGary said. "I only cracked the glass and I'm trying to break through."
McGary had some discomfort in mid-summer, but no real problems with his back until school was about to start. He rested a while, missed the first couple games of this season, then eased his way back into the rotation. In a semifinal of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off against Florida State, he was every bit the player he'd imagined he could be as a sophomore: 14 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists against the Seminoles' immense frontcourt.
Whether he aggravated his back injury while he played or it was simply a response to more wear, McGary reached a point where surgery became the best option. His future now is relatively uncertain. It won't get any better if people attempt to rewrite his past.


text:
Pro-Obama Celebrities Top Online-Ad Charts
Pro-Obama Hollywood celebrities featured heavily in the past week's top online political videos.
In first is a series of videos backed by American Bridge 21st Century and the Jewish Council for Education & Research, featuring Sarah Silverman and Rosie Perez, among others. In all, the series has about 980,000 views for the week ended Sunday, according to Visible Measures, which counts videos released as part of a package as one total.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Union Blasts Staples-Run Postal Outlets
Postal-Workers Union Ramps Up Campaign to Slow U.S. Postal Service's Partnership With Staples; Unionized Teachers Urged to Shop Elsewhere
PITTSBURGH—A postal-workers union is ramping up a campaign to try to slow the U.S. Postal Service's partnership with Staples Inc., including asking unionized teachers to boycott the chain and buy school supplies elsewhere.
Last fall, Staples began providing postal services under a pilot program that now includes 82 stores in California, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Massachusetts. The sites are staffed with Staples employees.


text:
Is Arabic the first cursive writing?
I think Arabic is the first Cursive, because its cursive is modified into formal writing in its writing system.
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Is Arabic the first cursive writing?
I think Arabic is the first Cursive, because its cursive is modified into formal writing in its writing system.
Think so?!
Semoga Berjaya
I wouldn't say that. Indic scripts could, possibly, be considered cursive, because letter forms are joined together, just like cursive in other scripts.
If we're defining cursive as a script that is a simpler, quicker form for writing things quickly, then the oldest cursive script is the Chinese 草书/caoshu or Grass Script.
Better question:
When will Arabic get over it?
I don't think cursive is working, period.
I dont think Cursive is working in Chinese.
Any script had or have a cursive form of some sort, in the exact moment in which it's written by hand (as opposed to being an inscription or, obviously, print).
The form which such cursive will take depends on the type of script, shape of glyphs, tools and materials used, and direction of writing.
Not the best of definitions ;-)
What about printed Devanagari, for example, it's cursive because letters are connected? And there are script in which there is no "letters" as such, so connecting glyphs would not make sense.
Anyway, by your definition, I think that Hieratic would come first:
I was just saying that Hieratic is a form of cursive that predates Arabic cursive.
I don't know if we have the evidence to say. My "guess" would be that there was much cursive writing which never survived the centuries, It was likely that it was written on a material that would easily decompose. Perhaps there were written scripts long before we have artifacts available to see?
Is Arabic the first cursive writing?
"Corsivo" (= running) is an Italian term from about the 16th century. Given that, you can determine with very little thinking what this may have to do with Arabic or with 'first writing'.
A distinction should be made between
a) cursive writing, which results in connections between individual letters based on minimising the number of times the pen leaves the page (e.g. English running hand or connected italic);
b) connected formal writing, in which the connection between letters is constructed from independent strokes rather than cursively written (e.g. Devanagari); and
c) morphographical scripts, in which the strokes connecting letters replaces strokes of the independent letters, thereby changing their shape (e.g. Arabic).
Hieratic isn't cursive, it is a formal book hand. Demotic is informal and shows more elements of cursive. In order to determine whether a script style is cursive, you need to analyse the individual sign forms and determine how frequently the pen needs to leave the writing surface in order to write them. Cursive is all about speed and about minimising the number of times the pen has to be lifted and put down again.
All mature scribal cultures develop both formal book hands and informal or secretarial (chancery) hands. Cursive connection is one typical feature of the latter, but they also tend to display other characteristics derived from speed: abbreviation, compression and slant. Latin informal hands don't employ much abbreviation, but do display compression and slant. An Arabic informal hand such as ruqah displays considerable abbreviation, particular in losing the teeth of seen; it can be contrasted with the formal hands such as thuluth and naskh. [Nastaliq is interesting in that it functions as both a formal book hand and as an informal hand, especially in the Perso-Indic tradition, with the difference mainly in the care/speed with which it is written in different circumstances.]
It isn't sufficient to describe Arabic as 'cursive'. It is morphographical, which means that the shape of the letters is determined by adjacency. This is why, unlike Latin, you can't just remove the connections between cursively written letters and still get something readable; in Arabic the connections are part of the letters, not separable linking strokes.
Cursive is bad. It was Akhenaten's fault. Before that, everything in Egypt was done in boxes.
The value of cursive is that it makes writing quicker. You might say that cursive writing is more beautiful. However, the most beautiful calligraphy takes ages to write, so the conveyance of flow wherein the beauty resides is deception. Cursive style in handwriting is not good for legibility. Many people prefer to read a printed text of disjoint letters. I find the ink blot effect of brushwork Chinese characters off-putting and crude. I see refinement in conformity, the majesty of logical order and practicality. Cursive writing is not good for certain kinds of execution and writing media, such as carving on hard surfaces. Systems with distinct letters are better for printing and electronic display.
A system of writing that has a cursive foundation is unsound and crumbles towards the top.
Arabic calligraphic works of art are amazing though.
> Systems with distinct letters are better for printing and electronic display.
But not for [immersive] reading.
Which however does not mean calligraphy is good for type.
> A system of writing that has a cursive foundation is unsound and crumbles towards the top.
Crumbles towards the top or bottom?!
AzizMostafa: >Crumbles towards the top or bottom?!
hrant: >But not for [immersive] reading.
Which however does not mean calligraphy is good for type.
Because of the equipment involved, printing with moveable type is technologically more advanced than drawing with pigment on sheets.
Primitive modular electronic display such as on pocket calculators is technologically more advanced than printing with moveable type, because of the equipment involved.
Non-cursive script is more suitable for printing with moveable type and modular electronic display than cursive script.
In that sense, cursive scripts crumble towards advanced applications.
There are even more advanced applications than printing and electronic display. Information storage and transmission may be relevant to this argument. Segmental as opposed to morphological script allows combinatorial construction from a smaller set of characters. Morphological characters hardly combine combinatorially except at the word formation level. Segmental letters, on the other hand, combine at the level within the word as well as by permutations of words and morphemes. Hence, segmental systems of writing are inherently better adapted to information technology.
Anyway, cursive scripts crumble towards the bottom as well, as they are not suitable for scratching on hard surfaces, for example if you find yourself on a desert island with no paper or ink pens. Reasons similar to this may be why the Roman alphabet has been promulgated so well.
I'm sticking to the claim that cursive script is less legible. People can argue that morphographic cues aid faster reading. But segmental letters can provide morphographic cues too, albeit in a less spatially compact fashion. But since morphographic scripts take longer to learn, any benefit of rapid reading in the end is counter-balanced.
Cursive script can be okay for type if you are clever enough to design it well.
That said, I don't have anything against cursive script per se, it is against systems of writing that are based on cursive origins and which cannot be written segmentally whereas segmental letters can be written in both ways.
Might be applicable to some cursive scripts, but not Arabic, my dude fellow!
> technologically more advanced
And cellphones are more advanced than landline phones - but I still don't have one.
To me it has to be useful, not advanced.
> Non-cursive script is more suitable for printing with moveable
> type and modular electronic display than cursive script.
And illiteracy is even more suitable - you don't have to print at all!
Sure, technology affects change in culture, but sadly it tends
to be for the worse; so ideally we have to make technology not
just quick and cheap, but culturally enriching.
All your arguments seem to tend towards simplification, Modernism.
I think Modernism is inhuman.
> cursive script is less legible.
Typically, yes.
But -if redefined in a useful way- it can be more readable.
> longer to learn
If what you're learning is useful, it more than makes up for it soon enough.
Again: illiteracy versus literacy.
> I don't have anything against cursive script per se
I do: it encourages an illusory valuation of chirography.
We just have to be strong enough to overcome it.
This thread has been veering somewhat off course from its original topic, for which I apologise as I seem to have been responsible.
If we look on the bright side and try to see the advantages, perhaps retrospectively, at least I have at the earliest stage disclosed biases I have that may undermine serious scholarship.
This is particularly important as there is evidently a risk of selecting the definition of "cursive" to suit our intentions.
So let us address the original topic:
>Is Arabic the first cursive writing?
>I think Arabic is the first Cursive, because its cursive is modified into formal writing in its writing system.
In concordance with John Hudson, 4.Jul.2011 10.41am:
>a) cursive writing, which results in connections between individual letters based on minimising the number of times the pen leaves the page (e.g. English running hand or connected italic)
I take the definition of cursive to mean graphical features that minimize the times that the implement of writing is lifted from the surface medium in order to increase the speed of execution. By cursive I do not necessarily mean a stenographic script of disjoint marks, such as Tironian short hand or scribal notation. Nor do I accept simple connection of letters, as
Gunarta suggested 3.Jul.2011 2.00am:
>I defined cursive as connected letters
as otherwise we could say that the Ogham script, which consists of nothing other than straight lines, is cursive. I do not accept, as riccard0 3.Jul.2011 1.09am suggested, that a script can be cursive just because it is written by hand:
>Any script had or have a cursive form of some sort, in the exact moment in which it's written by hand
otherwise we could say that the Futhark runes were cursive.
The term cursive can be applied to scripts that predate its coinage, because we are using it as an academic categorisation for morphology or form rather than phylogeny. In contrast to others, I would not say that cursive applies only between letters or other glottographic segments that correspond to temporal acoustic segments. Cursive also applies within letters or morphograms. We can describe a script as cursive if it possesses any significant amount of cursivity, and there are degrees to which scripts are cursive, so that some are more cursive than others. Cursive and morphographical are not mutually exclusive terms; a script can be cursive and nevertheless morphographical.
Take, for example, the case of Chinese characters. Even though there may not be cursive connections between characters in a particular Chinese script style, we may still say that the script is cursive if there are cursive features within the characters. This may be compared to cursive handwriting of the Roman alphabet, where there are cursive features within and between letters but not conventionally between words. Since the Chinese character corresponds to morphemes and often to whole words, the amount of cursivity is capable of being similar for the Chinese and Roman scripts.
As a second example, consider Arabic calligraphic script. Yes, there are morphographical traits on account of the likes of initial, medial and final forms, but this does not negate the fact that this Islamic script is predominantly cursive. If we were to say that Arabic script is not cursive, because it is morphographical, then by a similar argument we could claim that running handwriting in the English language written with the Roman alphabet is not cursive because of the morphographical attributes imparted by irregular spelling.
Thus, we acknowledge that there are cursive forms of Chinese script. A cursive variant or style of Chinese character script had evolved by at least as early as about 200 BC. There really are cursive features within those Chinese characters. This is well before the earliest remaining examples that we have of cursive Arabic, dating from about the 4th century AD. Therefore, we can definitely say, on the basis of the evidence available to us, that Arabic is not the first cursive script.
I think it is fair to say that Literary Hieratic is a more cursive form than the monumental Hieroglyphic. Hieratic must be older than the cursive Chinese script. That Hieratic may be the oldest cursive was pointed out by riccard0 3.Jul.2011 4.07am. But John Hudson 4.Jul.2011 10.41am says:
>Hieratic isn't cursive, it is a formal book hand.
To return to the statement in the opening post:
>I think Arabic is the first Cursive, because its cursive is modified into formal writing in its writing system.
Perhaps I do not understand correctly, but I do not see why the formal form of the script has to be cursive in order for the writing to be the earliest cursive. This may be relevant to the question of whether Literary Hieratic is cursive even though it is a formal book hand. Cursive does not necessarily imply informal, and formal does not necessarily imply non-cursive. It seems that this may be a case of choosing the definition to suit ones purposes.
So, I think that the question has been answered already. I would like to continue the argument on the merits of cursive script, as you can see how I have been able to highlight how it might be related to the reasons for our choices of definitions of cursive, perhaps in a new discussion if this has not been done before.
Sure, technology affects change in culture, but sadly it tends
to be for the worse; so ideally we have to make technology not
just quick and cheap, but culturally enriching.
All your arguments seem to tend towards simplification, Modernism.
I think Modernism is inhuman.
While I might not go that far, in this context at least, I agree.
On the one hand, though, it is true that it would be presumptuous of Westerners to think they can save Arabic typography.
But that does not appear to be the question. Instead, since the West sets the standards - whether the Linotype and Monotype machines, or the True Type and Opentype formats - then it's entirely appropriate for us to ensure that we avoid preventing the Arabic-script world from typesetting its languages with what it seeks as acceptable quality.
Still, when you said
Better question:
When will Arabic get over it?
you seemed to be saying the exact opposite.
I think that even when the technological obstacles to proper Arabic typography are eliminated, there will be some contexts in which something like "Unified Arabic" would be useful and desirable.
But this will have to come about from an initiative - or, rather, from popular demand - within that linguistic community.
> it would be presumptuous of Westerners to think they can save Arabic typography.
What's a "Westerner"? What's "save"?
I remember once being told "we don't want your help" when making a suggestion on how to improve Cyrillic, how to undo some of the damage done by Peter the Great. And many people were outraged when I presented my Latin alphabet reform effort in the late 90s. The truth remains that an "outsider" can often see the forest for the trees, because emotions don't get in the way - or maybe it's that higher emotions get to surface.
Personally, while I think that leaving the hard sign off the ends of the words is still a good idea, the Russians should bring back the letters they threw away with the new orthography under the Soviets. It would help in transliterating Greek words.
But then I'm not familiar enough with the subject to even imagine what "damage" Peter the Great did to Russian. The current alphabet is phonetic for the language, and so going all the way back to Old Church Slavonic wouldn't seem to be an improvement.
And while "outrage" probably isn't the right reaction to a proposed reform of Latin script, I would expect you would be met by an even more resolute hostile reaction: apathy.
Even, say, the Hebrew alphabet - some of the letters of which are hard to distinguish for outsiders - isn't likely to get changed to suit them any time soon. Nor are Chinese characters going anywhere, despite the challenges they clearly pose to education for the Chinese people.
Once people have an effective means of communication that they can use with facility, the thought of undergoing a painful learning curve merely to regain what they once had - with perhaps some gains which are minute in comparison - will be rejected out of hand as unreasonable and irrational. This seems to me to be an entirely sensible reaction, even if it is also an obstacle to potentially useful progress.
"since the West sets the standards [...] it's entirely appropriate for us to ensure that we avoid preventing the Arabic-script world from typesetting its languages with what it seeks as acceptable quality."
"On the one hand, though, it is true that it would be presumptuous of Westerners to think they can save Arabic typography"
Wouldn't ensuring the avoidance of preventing the Arabic-script world from typesetting be the same as saving Arabic typography?
When cultures "prefer" the old ways and have reverence for the work of the pen and calligraphy instead of embracing newer means of mass-producing texts, how much are they kidding themselves because their system or style of writing prevents them from adapting? Westerners have respect for handwriting and hard-copy paper, but you cannot deny that we are using keyboards right now. Arabic society may have suffered a delayed flourishing and advancement of literary exchange because of reluctance to adopt the mechanical printing press.
I am still in favour of improvements in typographic techniques, but am worried that Arabic writing could become overly dependent on software and suffer if it is taken away when superseded by rock carving.
You raise an interesting question.
Some objections to the specific form in which it was put can be raised, though.
If people make fonts for Arabic that provide high-quality calligraphic features, that won't mean that there is now a danger that when someone takes all their computers away, they won't be able to go back to using Linotype machines and typewriters, because they will no longer accept the inferior output from them.
There's no reason to expect that level of dependency would be created by the computer when it didn't exist originally - when the pen was frequently resorted to. Nor is there a real threat of the Islamic world being decomputerized.
On the other hand, while I think many people will object to this as well, it is legitimate to question if a society has its priorities straight when its esthetic preferences for its writing system are allowed to get in the way of mass literacy and technical progress.
Given the wide acceptance of the Yakout typeface in Arabic newspapers, for example, however, the Arab world does not seem to be nearly as much a case of this as China and Japan.
Typewriter faces with only two forms of each letter have been well enough accepted in the Arab world, and the additional complexity of two forms of each letter does not to me seem sufficient as to be a major obstacle to Arabic participation in the computer revolution.
It is important to note here that there's much more to literacy than the mere efficient decipherment of individual glyphs (something BTW that the human mind is much better at than some people think). Not to mention that it's entirely worthwhile giving up some efficiency for cultural identity.
hrant: "It is important to note here that there's much more to literacy than the mere efficient decipherment of individual glyphs (something BTW that the human mind is much better at than some people think)."
An article appeared on the front page of the Irish Times newspaper on Friday this week about the experiment reported in the journal Science entitled "Orthographic Processing in Baboons (Papio papio)"
by authors Jonathan Grainger, Stéphane Dufau, Marie Montant, Johannes C. Ziegler, and Joël Fagot.
It seems that the baboons were trained to recognise words by their spelling and remember them. I wonder whether they could achieve the same with other systems of writing? Yes, I wonder, but that does not mean that we benefit from the experiment.
quadibloc : "the Arab world does not seem to be nearly as much a case of this as China and Japan."
They make the effort though. Hence the need for and sanctioning of Pinyin.
It seems that the baboons were trained to recognise words by their spelling and remember them.
No, they were trained to recognise patterns in letter order that are found in English words vs patterns that are not, which enabled them to identify words vs non-words when introduced to letter sequences that they had not seen before. This is the important part.
John, it's great that you keep sticking up for the little guys - just don't go this far:
John Hudson: "trained to recognise patterns in letter order that are found in English words vs patterns that are not"
If they were trained to recognise the patterns, then I don't see the point of the experiment. What would matter more is that the baboons could discover the patterns themselves on their own initiative, without being shown them by rewards. If they were trained only to recognise patterns of orthography, which have a vestigial underlying phonological basis despite irregular spelling, somehow without at the same time being trained to recognise words by their spelling, then in the prospective test, the baboons would only have been identifying sets of letters that satisfied the patterns that they were trained to detect rather than by whether the sets were words, with the exception of any mistakes (that is to say, not doing what the experimenters want them to do) that the baboons would make occasionally. If, on the other hand, the baboons had failed the test, we could only say that they were too dim-witted to catch on to the training.
What would matter more is that the baboons could discover the patterns themselves on their own initiative, without being shown them by rewards.
What possible criteria could the baboons have to discover such patterns on their own? They don't speak English. The baboons have to be given a basis for distinguishing the patterns of English orthography from non-word letter sequences, and that basis is provided by the reward that they receive during the training. You can't say to a baboon 'This one is an English word and this one isn't'; you have to communicate the distinction via something that the baboon understands and finds motivational.
...the baboons would only have been identifying sets of letters that satisfied the patterns that they were trained to detect rather than by whether the sets were words...
No. The baboons were trained to distinguish words from non-words. They were not presented with sets of letters but with words and non-words, and they were rewarded for identifying the words by pressing a particular button, and then for identifying non-words by pressing a different button. So the training and subsequent testing is of word selection vs non-word selection, not for learning particular sequences of letters. The testers are not somehow telling the baboons that what they need to do is memorise certain letter sequences: they are presenting two kinds of objects, and teaching the baboons that some of these correspond to one button and some to another. Then the baboons are shown different sets of objects, that they have not seen before, and have to try to decide which correspond to which button. The fact that they are able to do so correctly demonstrates a) that they are able to distinguish different orders of letters (since that is, in fact, what distinguishes the two kinds of object), b) have understood that this is the criteria by which to distinguish the objects, and c) can extrapolate ordering principles from one set of objects to another set. That is pretty darned remarkable, especially when you consider that baboons are not considered among the most intelligent of primates and that they are not in the hominid line. The latter point is most interesting to me, because it means that if the cognitive mechanism by which the baboons are able to do these things is the same mechanism by which humans can, then it must have evolved before the split between Cercopithecidae and Hominidae, and that implies some time in the Miocene period, probably between nine and fourteen million years ago.
Don't you understand the conditional "If they were trained only to recognise patterns of orthography"?
By "patterns" and the context of your comment "No, they were trained to recognise patterns in letter order" in reply to mine "It seems that the baboons were trained to recognise words by their spelling ", I assumed you meant orthographic patterns. Unless the word orthography means something different to me than to others, it is a consequence of the allowed permutations of letters in the spelling of words, for a particular language and system of writing. It is not possible to have orthography without spelling. In an abstract way, one might suppose a hypothetical system of orthographic rules, but these could only be conveyed by actual permutations in sample words. Visually, words are nothing more than permutations of letters that become allowed. Hence, in order for the baboons to have been trained to identify orthographic patterns, they had to recognise spelling, which is nothing more than permutation of letters. In summary, the baboons could not have only been taught to recognise orthographic patterns, they had to be able to recognise spelling as a prerequisite.
It is a personal opinion of mine that the result of the experiment has no consequence unless the baboons show the ability to formulate orthographic rules of their own volition, without artificial rewards. The baboons were trained to recognise the patterns. More important would be to observe the baboons using this ability in a natural setting, without using trials. That is not likely to happen unless we see baboons suddenly picking up implements and writing their own letters. (This is not as improbable as it sounds. I have read before in a book a myth about how a certain system of writing in Africa was in origin imparted to humans from baboons that approached humans around their fires.)
I think we basically agree then about what the baboons were trained to do: to recognise the orthographic patterns of English spelling such that they could henceforth recognise English words and to distinguish them from non-words. Yes?
I find your comments about the experimental results having 'no consequences unless the baboons show the ability to formulate orthographic rules of their own volition, without artificial rewards' simply bizarre though. Consequences for whom? The results demonstrate not only that baboons have the capacity for orthographic processing but that this capacity is independent of language knowledge (obviously). The experiment tells us things about that capacity, not about the consequences of that capacity. Obviously what humans have done with that capacity is very different from what other primates have done with it, yet the fact that the capacity seems to be shared suggests very interesting things about our shared evolution. It suggests, among other things, that core perceptual and cognitive functions that enable the mechanics of reading are very, very old. I'd long assumed that these functions preceded the invention of writing by some long period, but this experiment indicates that they may have evolved long before human beings became such. What the baboons have done, might do or will do with this demonstrated capacity is beside the point: the experiment has consequences for our understanding of ourselves. What is consequential in the study is what it tells us about the capacity, and the fact that baboons have not, apparently, exploited to capacity to create writing and reading 'of their own volition' is neither here not there; since the capacity likely predates human written language by some millions of years, of more interest is the question of why it might have been evolutionarily selected for or to what selected-for trait it was a free rider.
Although I go too far to say "no consequence", I don't find the result surprising. Obviously, humans have to have the capacity or else we would not be able to read. We know therefore that our ancestors had the capacity also where we have evidence of writing. When the capacity arose does not seem to be interesting to me. It especially does not seem to be interesting if it is not being put to use for writing and reading. I suspect that the ability to recognise permutations must be more necessary for vision than may have been thought. I think that we underestimate the cognitive abilities of animals. I am utterly convinced that I have heard birds talking to each other. It is a secret language that they do not sing out loud and use very quietly. We only need to know one case of when a bird or animal has been able to speak to us, as a trained African grey parrot, that they would tell us that they want freedom if only they could. I saw the parrot on television say that it didn't want to do any more tests and wanted to be let out, but the experimenter told the parrot in reply that it had to do the tests.
The published paper describing the experiment is available online:
The conclusion makes clear what the researchers consider the significance of the findings, and I agree with them. I don't think it is a matter of having underestimated the cognitive abilities of animals, but of confirming that a particular cognitive ability that humans use for a very specialised cultural activity is shared with primates that do no use it for that purpose. And I do find that interesting because it obliges us to generalise the ability, even beyond notions of pattern recognition being useful for e.g. hunting.
... but of confirming that a particular cognitive ability that humans use for a very specialised cultural activity
The Glorious Holy Quran Confirms that particular cognitive ability ANIMALS use for a very specialised cultural activity?!
… till, when Solomon and his hosts came on the Valley of Ants, an ant said, 'Ants, enter your dwelling-places, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you, being unaware!' But Solomon smiled, laughing at her words...
And Solomon reviewed the birds; and said, 'How is it with me, that I do not see the hoopoe? Or is he among the absent? But the hoopoe tarried not long, and said, 'I have comprehended that which you have not comprehended, and I have come from Sheba to you with a sure tiding.
AzizMostafa: "The Glorious Holy Quran Confirms that particular cognitive ability ANIMALS use for a very specialised cultural activity?!"
There is an incident in the Bible, in the book Numbers, Chapter 22 verses 28 to 30 involving a speaking donkey.
I recall reading an article that appeared in the Economist, issue July 10th 2010, pages 73 to 74, titled: "The Da Vinci code" subtitled: "Reading may involve unlearning an older skill" relevant to some of the work of researchers such as Stanislas Dehaene and Mark Changizi. I had taken an interest in it at the time, because it was suggested that baboons have build-in specific areas of the brain for detecting certain graphical features that occur in letters. As far as I recall, the article discussed whether learning to read could hijack parts of the brain that would otherwise have been used for skills that are necessary for social interaction, such as recognition of faces. I wonder whether conditions such as Asperger's syndrome could be improved by discouraging too much reading, or whether some systems of writing would have a greater tendency to hinder socialisation, and to what extent the amount of morphography versus phonography in the writing affects this, if at all.
The table that is included with my post of 7 Jul 2011 — 9:35am in this node also can be consulted as Figure 135, page 175 of the book "Sign, Symbol and Script" by author Hans Jensen, published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1970.
dudefellow 21 Apr 2012 — 1:41pm: "was suggested that baboons"
They might have been macaques or other primates and not specifically baboons.


text:
Snow creates Mammoth envy
As the rest of the Sierra slides slowly into drought, Mammoth bucks the trend
California is sliding closer to a true drought after a record dry January and February failed to increase the winter snowpack, but the Mammoth area is bucking the state trend and is close to 90 percent of normal for this time of year.
Mammoth Pass is one of the locations along the spine of the Sierra range where the state and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power take their snowpack data from and as of early this month, the snowpack was at about 34.4 inches of water content.
The normal for the pass is about 40 inches of water content. Snowpack numbers are not measured in feet, since snow can be heavy in water content or light in water content, but in inches of water—which is the only number that matters in the end.
On Mammoth Mountain, however, where snow depth is more important than how much water is in the snow, the situation is much rosier.
The mountain has received about 269 inches of snow this season, including about 13.5 inches in the past week, according to Mammoth Mountain Ski Patrol data. Compared to an average winter snowpack of about 350 inches, this brings the snowpack to the 90 percent of normal to date as noted above, and to about 79 percent of normal for the year, meaning Mammoth Mountain will be open through Memorial Day this year. But the rest of the Sierra overall—which just happens to provide about one third of all the state's water—is much worse off, coming in at about 65 percent of normal for this time of year and at just 57 percent of normal for April 1, which is the last date such measurements are taken.
After April 1, the snowpack begins to melt, so water managers that allocate the state's water to farms, wildlife and domestic use consider the Jan. 1 to April 1 dates to be the Sierra winter. Any snow after April 1 is difficult to count on for water managers, as it cannot be counted on to add to the snowpack for a slow release into the state's reservoirs, versus simply melting off.
"The snowpack hasn't actually lost much water content since the seasons' first survey on Jan. 2, when it was at 134 percent of normal for that date, but it hasn't continued to build as the winter has deepened because of the continuing warm weather that set in after the storms of late November and December," said Ted Thomas, a information officer for the state Department of Water Resources.
"In other words, the snowpack has not kept pace with the calendar," he said.
That doesn't look likely to change. Long range forecasts by the National Weather Service do not show a wet March, so far, and the National Climate Prediction Center recently released a prediction that March would be drier than average.
A warming, drying trend is expected to kick in at the end of this week, with the next possible chance of another storm toward next weekend, according to the NWS.


text:
First, thank you for allowing me to be on this journey with you! I am so humbled and blessed to be a part of the SPIRIT 105.3 family.
I have been in broadcasting for nearly 20 years. I got my first radio gig in Sun Valley, Idaho when I was 22. It was the best time of my life! I was a ski instructor by day and got to play DJ at night. It was a dream come true and I knew in that moment I had found my calling.
I always had this gift of connecting with people. I could talk to anyone anywhere! I guess that comes from being the daughter of a military guy. My Dad served in the Army for 20 years. We lived in a lot of different places during his service: Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Germany and Florida. Eventually when Dad retired we settled here in my Mother's hometown, Seattle. Of all the cities we lived in, Seattle is the most beautiful and dearest to my heart! It MAY have something to do with being born here too! 😉
My journey to SPIRIT began after my life took an amazing turn. In 2008 I met my wonderful husband Blake. It wasn't long after that we were blessed with two baby girls pretty much back to back! Yes, marriage and two pregnancies in 5 years! When God decides to carry out his plans for us, He does not hold back. I always had a relationship with the Lord but didn't really understand what walking with Jesus meant. I was in church one Sunday a couple of years ago when our Pastor was talking about the "Parable of Talents," (Matthew 25:14-28) in which 3 servants were each given special gifts. I learned in that sermon that God blessed each and every one of us with different talents and abilities. But the bigger lesson was that God expects us to put those talents to good use. We shouldn't hide them and keep them to ourselves as two of the servants did, but instead we should use our gifts and abilities to glorify God.
That is why I wanted to work here. I love what CRISTA represents, 'Loving God by Serving People.' SPIRIT 105.3 is where I am meant to be. I am so very grateful that I get to share this wonderful journey in the company of Christ with you.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive and inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
~Ana Kelly


text:
SANTA FE, N.M. - Imagine a health care plan that covered pretty much any medical cost incurred inside or outside of a hospital, from emergency room visits to preventative care-plus dental care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, physical therapy and all the prescription drugs one can eat.
In March, US Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, introduced such a plan, the "American Health Security Act." It would automatically enroll every US citizen in a federally regulated, state-run medical insurance program-a so-called "single payer" plan.
It is not the health care plan Congress is about to pass.
Most of the generally Medicare-aged rallygoers at a July 9 health care rally held pre-printed signs demanding a "public option" plan. A few held hand-lettered "single payer" signs.
Both slogans probably read like gibberish to many passersby. Regardless, it was clear that many public option sign holders, in their heart of hearts, support a single-payer plan like Sanders.'
"You've got to take what you can get, then you go after what you want," picketer Genevieve Cervera said, after calling single payer a "lost cause."
David Pease, a Santa Fean who has also lived in England and Canada, was less fatalistic. "They keep saying a single-payer solution is off the table," Pease told the crowd. "I say if a single-payer solution is off the table, we should get rid of the table."
Sanders' plan is controversial because it would ban the sale of private health insurance that duplicates any government-funded services (although individuals and employers would still be able to purchase coverage for extra benefits).
If single payer has gotten nowhere, New Mexico's elected representatives are part of the reason why. All, in vague terms, endorse the emerging Democratic Party consensus-shaped by private hospitals and insurance companies who have billions of dollars at stake in the outcome of the debate-toward a public option plan.
Sanders' bill wound up in the 23-member Senate Finance Committee, of which US Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, is among the senior most members. Finance Committee leadership has ensured Sanders' bill will never see a vote.
Instead, that committee-as well as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on which Bingaman also serves-is so far backing the public option approach favored by President Barack Obama.
Such an approach maintains the status quo, except that private health insurance plans would have to compete with a new, government-run insurance program. Labor unions and business owners alike are concerned this approach may do little to lower medical costs nationwide.
Obama had hoped to sign a health care reform bill by August, when Congress takes a recess. As of July 13, that deadline was looking unlikely.
"He might as well give up if he can't get this done with 60 senators," Santa Fe health care protester Robert Baroody says of Obama. Perhaps Baroody's harsh judgment is no surprise, given that he helped run Ralph Nader's last presidential campaign in New Mexico. But such dissatisfaction was the norm among Baroody's fellow protesters outside Bingaman's office on Marcy Street.
"We voted for these people to get this job done," Cervera said.
Rally organizer Carol Nicola noted that Bingaman was slow to support even the middle-of-the-road public option plan. Why? "One could say, perhaps, lobbying influence," Nicola said.
In fairness, if New Mexico's congressional delegation has followed rather than lead in the health care debate, it's not necessarily because its members are bought and paid for. It's just as likely they simply lack influence. Bingaman is the only non-freshman of the bunch, although US Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, served five terms in the US House.
In 2006, when he ran for re-election, Bingaman took $348,263 in donations from the health care industry-triple the average for senators elected that year.
That was an exception to the rule: New Mexico's delegation otherwise doesn't crack the top 20 when it comes to campaign contributions from medical and insurance companies. That's significant, because donors tend to target the most powerful politicians.
What follows are total campaign donations from health care interests to New Mexico's congressional delegation members over the span of their careers, as calculated by the Center for Responsive Politics at opensecrets.org.
Only Bingaman had significant insurance industry contributions, so SFR didn't list insurance contributions to the other lawmakers. For comparison's sake, the average US representative has taken $34,676 in donations from "health professionals;" the average US senator has taken $84,983.
Rank of "health professionals" among industry contributors: 2
Total from health pros: $547,616
Rank of the insurance industry: 11
Total from insurance: $160,875
Number of New Mexico children who could've been insured for a year with the sum of those contributions: 968*
Boilerplate health care statement from website: "I strongly support a public option. The most critical elements of such a plan are that it would be established and overseen by the federal government, and made available to all Americans."
Rank of health pros among industry contributors: 9
Total from health pros: $276,170
Children that money could've insured: 377
Interview talking points: "I'm in support of a public option. I think we need it to keep the insurance companies honest. I think we need the competition that a public option would bring," Udall tells SFR.
Rank of health pros among industry
contributors: 9
Total from health pros: $41,050
Children that money could've insured: 56
Boilerplate: "It's time to fix this broken system that is making it difficult for families to make ends meet. Ben supports comprehensive health care reform that makes health care affordable and accessible for American families."
Rank of health pros among industry
contributors: 10
Total from health pros: $56,550
Children that money could've insured: 77
Boilerplate: "We should use our ingenuity to develop a fair, common sense plan to make sure that every American has access to high quality affordable health care."
Rank of health pros among industry
contributors: 14
Total from health pros: $40,900
Children that money could've insured: 56
Boilerplate: "Harry will work to make sure every American takes responsibility for his or her health by choosing an option that is affordable and works for them. Harry also believes that in order to decrease the cost of health insurance, we must bring a new focus on prevention."
* Based on the cost of basic coverage for a person under 18 in the New Mexico Medical Insurance Pool.
SFR interns Alex Roberts and Caroline K Gorman contributed reporting.


text:
Diane McCain
Director, External Relations
FIU student government president named to BOG
Arthur "AJ"ť Meyer, president of the Student Government Association of Florida International University-University Park, is the new chairman of the Florida Student Association.
The Florida Student Association (FSA), founded in 1976, is led by presidents, vice-presidents and staff from student government associations at Florida's 11 public universities.
In their last meeting, the FSA board of directors voted 6-4 to name Meyer as chairman, making him a full voting member of the Florida Board of Governors (BOG), which oversees the operation and management of Florida's public university system. He is the second FIU student to chair the FSA and sit on the BOG.
"We are proud that one of our students will play such an important role in advancing higher education in our state,"ť said FIU President Modesto A. Maidique. "AJ is a shining example of our next generation of leaders."
The BOG is made up of 17 members, 14 of whom are chosen by Florida"s governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate for a term of seven years. The remaining members are the President of the Advisory Council of the Faculty Senate, the Commissioner of Education, and the FSA chairman.
"I am proud that I received the support of the majority of the student body presidents and their institutions for the chair position," Meyer said. "I am humbled by this opportunity to serve and to help strengthen higher education in the state of Florida for the next year."
For more information, contact:
Ben F. Badger Jr.
FIU SGCUP Press Secretary
305 305-348-2121


text: DERBY – Nothing warms the heart like ice fishing, especially when it's done to raise money for cancer victims.This year marked the 9th Annual Northeast Kingdom Ice Fishing Tournament hosted by Wright's Enterprises in Derby. A host of sponsors signed up for the event, tickets sold like the proverbial hot cakes, the youth portion of the derby netted quite a catch, and those brave enough to endure the event met Sunday for a lively feast and to watch the winners receive their much prized awards. Partial proceeds were donated to the Mary Wright Halo Foundation, a non-profit association assisting cancer victims.While tallies were still being taken, Wright's Enterprises posted photos of the days' catches on their website (www.wrightssports.com/) and people crowded inside for a much anticipated feast. As Newport Daily Express reporter Ed Barber stated: The place wasn't just crowded, it was "filled to the gills." The youth results are in and posted on page 3. Highlights will be shared with our readers tomorrow after all numbers are in. Does it get any better than this?See the Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 edition of The Newport Daily Express for youth results (page 3) and more photos (pages 1, 3 and 5), and pick up Tuesday's edition for more photos and the winners.


text:
I'm Melting!!! Write an Expository Paragraph (Day 1 of 3)
Lesson 3 of 5
Objective: SWBAT complete an expository paragraph by writing a topic sentence, 3 supporting statements and concluding sentence.
This is the first of a three part lesson to construct a five paragraph essay. Writing an essay this long is a challenge for my second grade students, so we are working on it over several days. I want to be very deliberate about the process so the students can understand the process of how to write organized paragraphs with clear details to support the main idea, as well as introductory and concluding paragraphs.
We are writing about a melting snowman because the students have been studying states of matter. Instead of writing any informational text, I chose to use this science text because I want the students to get a cross-curriculum experience. The Common Core standards represent a shift toward writing about informational topics, including introducing a topic, using facts to develop points, and providing a concluding sentence (W.2.2) This lesson is an important step towards supporting students to practice writing an informative/explanatory paragraph conveying complex ideas and presenting information clearly and accurately. Second grade students can usually write a paragraph with details, but need practice to weave a succinct introductory and concluding paragraph into a paragraph with a strong main idea and details.
When writing about an informational topic that you are studying, make sure the students are really FAMILIAR with the topic. When they are learning new writing skills, they need to be secure with the information they are writing about.
- Lesson vocabulary words from the Reading/Writing word wall: main idea, key details, topic sentence, concluding sentence, informational text, expository
- lined paper for the students
- Paper and markers for illustration
- 'Topic & Concluding Sentence Starters' chart Created in a previous lesson
- 'Points of Informational Text' worksheet (one for each student)
- 'I'm Melting' powerpoint
- whiteboard set up
I taught several lessons that lead up to this. The kids learned how to find the main idea by using repeated words in Points of Informational Text-Main Idea and Details and then how to write a topic/concluding paragraph in the lessons Strip the Paragraph with Strong Introductory and Concluding Sentences and Writing Great Topic & Concluding Sentences.
Resources (4)
Let's Get Excited!
Underlined words below are lesson vocabulary words that are emphasized and written on sentence strips for my Reading & Writing word wall. I pull off the words off the wall for each lesson, helping students understand this key 'reading and writing' vocabulary can be generalized across texts and topics. The focus on acquiring and using these words is part of a shift in the Common Core Standards towards building students' academic vocabulary. My words are color coded 'pink' for literature/'blue' for reading strategies/'orange' for informational text/'yellow' for writing/'green' for all other words)
Get students engaged
- Show the powerpoint slide 1 with the melting ice and snowman
- Get ideas for vocabulary and write them on the board. This is our discussion of vocabulary for the board and here's the final vocabulary list that we created.
Common starting point
- "We write topic sentences and concluding sentences for paragraphs" - reference the sentence strips This is what we used in the last 2 lessons to distinguish them as main idea sentences.
- "We use repeating words to find the main idea." Refer to the top arrow on the organizer and repeated words as those that occur again and again-we circled them in the last 2 lessons
- "We've looked at key details in a paragraph." Refer to the organizer with the arrows
Resources (3)
Teacher's Turn
Give the purpose of the lesson
- "We've used the main idea to write topic and concluding sentences." Refer to the previous lesson's project - if you're doing this lesson in isolation, show the introductory/concluding sentences of some informational text
- "Today we're going to write one paragraph. This will be expository, which means it describes an idea - you can't use the word 'I' or 'my' in your writing."
- "This one paragraph today is just the beginning - we'll be writing 3 paragraphs about states of matter and put them together to write an essay!!
Review strategy – guided practice
- "When we write, we use a main idea and think of 3 details." Refer to the organizer
- "Each detail should have some words from the main idea. The main idea words should 'repeat' in the paragraph."
- "Add an introductory and concluding sentence with words from the main idea."
Demonstrate project
- "The main idea is melting ice." Here's my organizer on the whiteboard with main idea/key details.
- Discuss how to go from main idea to a paragraph-here's the transition from ideas to writing. I used green marker to distinguish this sentence and because we used green sentence strips in the previous lesson to make these sentences.
- "Make sure you use the main idea in the detail sentences." This is how I demonstrated how to use main idea words in detail sentences.
- "Write a topic and concluding sentence." This is how I explained how to write concluding sentences.
- Here's the teachers' paragraph.
Resources (5)
Students Take a Turn
Organize the ideas
- Look at the powerpoint slides 3-5– brainstorm words and write them on the board as a group
- Students use the worksheet - write a main idea words on the line & add 3 ideas under the line
Write the paragraph
- Students compose a topic and concluding sentence with the main idea.
- Students write 3 detail sentences with at least one main idea word. This is how I prompted a student to using main idea details in the paragraph.
- Here are 2 examples of my students' work - sample paragraph 1 and and sample paragraph 2
- Remind students to use good sentences. This is how I prompted one student to use capitalization and punctuation and another student to use use capitalization.
Resources (5)
Share What You've Learned
Students share their ideas
- Volunteers to come up and share their work. Here's an example of a student artifact.
- Comment on how writing pieces about the same topic can can different details
- Encourage those that use good introductory and concluding sentences and detailed sentences
Scaffolding and Special Education: This lesson could be easily scaffolded up or down, depending on student ability.
Students with academic challenges should be paired with a good writer. Idea generation should be equitable, but the organization and actual sentence writing may be challenging. You could also work with them in a group to write a paragraph together.
Encourage students with more ability to use some of the higher level vocabulary – 'evaporate', 'condensation', and 'change states of matter'.


text: Hello, I have a form that tests if a title has been changed since the page was loaded and the page has been submitted. If the page title has been changed then a confirm box will ask if the user wants to have the title changed. The problem is if the person hits cancel, all white spaces in the title get replaced w/ '%20'. Here's the code I was using: Code: <%=javascript_tag( "function confirmSubmit(){ var page_title_before= '#{u @page.title}'; var page_title_on_submit = escape($('page_title').value); if( page_title_before != page_title_on_submit ){ var agree=confirm('Changing the title of this page will break any links or bookmarks that refer to it.\\nPress \"OK\" to save with the new title, or \"Cancel\" to revert to the original title.'); if(agree){ return true; } else{ alert( 'page_title_before-->>' + escape(page_title_before) ); $('page_title').value = page_title_before; return false; } } else{ return true; }}") %>


text:
Female Anglers up 17%
Great Video interview with Chrissy Penn, Orvis who is a very active TU Member in VT.
This is a great interview. I
This is a great interview. I love that companies are working on creating true women's versions of products. It's also always great to see an active TU member on camera. Do you know how I can find out more about the Orvis 101 program?
The Orvis 101 program is
The Orvis 101 program is great, and it is a great way for ewbies to get involved in TU. Orvis has offered free TU memberships to 101 participants.
I fondly remember my Orvis fly-fishing school, circa 1986. Go Orvis, and go Take Me Fishing for your efforts to bring more women and minorities into the sport.
Brennan, I will send you a
Brennan, I will send you a link for Orvis 101, 201 and soon to be 301. We have participated in this for the last two years and it is Great.
Jim Mabrey


text:
What I present below is not an argument for Islam, or evidence of its truth. It is merely a very brief statement of the Islamic worldview, for the purposes of understanding.
The Muslim Narrative of History and Purpose
God exists, immanent and omnipotent1, but He transcends both time and space. As an expression of His Love and Mercy, He wills to create humankind, that they may know Him and willingly Love Him. The world, with its light and darkness, pain and beauty, suffering and pleasure, is God's chosen (created) instrument for nurturing these constructs.
In the beginning, God creates a singularity and then "cleaves it asunder"2, as an ever expanding universe3. He then wills the resultant cosmic dust to coalesce and form bodies in space4. He creates galaxies, with each heavenly body swimming in its respective orbit5. In progressive phases, He creates all earthly life from water6 and clay.
One such form of life is a creature called Adam, into which God breathes of His spirit7. God demonstrates this creature's free will by, firstly, testing Adam's capacity for obedience and devotion, by directly instructing Adam with knowledge. Adam displays a willing obedience, by devotedly submitting to God's instruction, and is able to learn and recite that which God has taught8. God separates out from Adam the female aspect, so that what is left are two separate beings of male and female9. Secondly, God tests the human capacity for neglect and forgetfulness, and Adam and Eve both demonstrate this by eating from the tree that was forbidden. Thus, with these two tests complete, human beings have demonstrated to the extant angelic world, the human capacity of free will, and God the migrates humanity to its next phase.
Adam and Eve are sent to Earth. They are informed that there would be animosity and conflict among their descendants, that God would send guidance which humanity could take recourse to10, and that they will all ultimately return to Him. The key to humanity's success would be in righteousness, and to sincerely strive for a relationship of love with God and with the other creations of God.
"Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; establishes prayer and gives prescribed tax to the poor; fulfill their promise when they promise; and are patient in poverty and hardship and during strife. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous." (Quran 2:177)
Time and time again, humanity loses the original message, and deviates from the primordial state of sound faith and beneficent action. Through the ages, many messengers are sent to guide humanity back to God and felicity. God's prophets and messengers number around 124 000, who are sent to all nations on Earth. For example, Enoch is sent, and later Noah, wherein there is a partial flood that causes major destruction. Abraham is sent, and his sons Ishmael and Isaac, to resurrect the primordial project. Jacob is sent, and Joseph and the Tribes. Moses is sent to convey the Law, and David and Solomon to reaffirm it. In addition to general guidance, some guides also come with Divine Law and a Book. But deviation is ever destined to set in, and because humanity has not yet reached the level of efficient textual preservation, Textual integrity is inevitably compromised11.
God sends Jesus Christ, a Hebrew prophet who is blatant in his criticism of the corruption of the Rabbis of the day. God instructs Jesus Christ to uphold certain parts of the Law brought by Moses, but that the time had come to forego certain other parts12. Jesus Christ never transmitted a Book verbatim, but he did receive a "Book" from God into his heart, called the Gospel, from which he taught his many disciples. Some of his followers were scribes, and later, after his death, penned some of his teachings. But these, too, were fraught with errors and contradictions. Certain principles remained solidly intact, such as loving God and loving the "other" (one's neighbour). But Christians started to wholesale abrogate the Old Testament, and the Jewish Law that was practiced by Jesus (albeit that Jesus had made some changes to the Law, as commanded by God). God's Oneness, which had been taught since the time of Adam, all the way up to and including the teachings of Jesus Christ, now becomes polluted and convoluted with notions of Trinity. The dichotomous nature of the Creator and creation also becomes contaminated by the concept of a God-man in the false claim of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
The time becomes ripe for new revelation, to confirm what came before, but also to correct what had been perverted. Humanity reaches a point where the sound preservation of His Word becomes possible. The Quran is gradually revealed to Prophet Muhammad, over a period of 23 years. While the Quran is only compiled into book form some years after the Prophet's death, it already existed in complete written form on various parchments. But the most significant factor which ensures its preservation is the fact that 1000s of his contemporaries have memorised the entire Quran, and the main authorised teachers regularly check in with the Prophet to ensure accuracy in their respective recollections. While some unauthorised persons too scribe texts wherein there are some errors, after the Prophet's death, recension efforts to ensure correlation with the authorised teachers are conducted by the Prophet's companion, Abu Bakr, and then on a much larger scale by the companion, Uthman. This leads to the protection of the Quran's integrity, preserving it in written form for later generations.
This brings us to the present day, where God's primordial message is as intact as ever. Islam is an Arabic word which means to submit. The Quran calls upon us to submit to the guidance of Almighty God, to spread compassion to all, and earn His compassion; to strive in His way, that we may experience the greatest sweetness ever: coming to truly know and love God, and being recipients of the Love of God, the Majestic.
1. See explanation of some core Attributes of God, previously posted on this forum.
2. "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?" (Quran 21:30)
3. "And the firmament We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander." (Quran 51:47)
4. "Then He directed Himself to the firmament while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly." (Quran 41:11)
5. "And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon; all [heavenly bodies] in an orbit are swimming." (Quran 21:33)
6. "And God has caused you to grow from the earth a [progressive] growth." (Quran 71:17)
7. "And when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My [created] spirit." (Quran 15:29)
8. "And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful. They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise. He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed." (Quran 2:31-33)
9. "O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear God, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer." (Quran 4:1)
10. "And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred. Then his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him]. God said, "Descend from Paradise - all, [your descendants] being enemies to one another. And if there should come to you guidance from Me - then whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray [in the world] nor suffer [in the Hereafter]." (Quran 20:121-123)
11. "Can you entertain the hope that they will believe in you, seeing that a party of them heard the Word of God, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it?" (Quran 2:75)
12. "(I, Jesus, have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So be mindful of God, and obey me." (Quran 3:50)
Abdurahman Dollie (wayfarer)


text:
"I'm a follower of threads," she says.
Many of the items in the new Palo Alto exhibit "From Fiber to Fabric: A History of American Textile Production" come from Hassett's La Honda home. She loaned a small table loom and a large floor loom, an enormous spinning wheel. She started a rag rug going on her big loom so that visitors can trace the warp and woof.
A longtime local whose sons own Palo Alto Hardware, Hassett is one of many museum volunteers who worked on the exhibit. Beryl Self of Menlo Park curated the show, spending hours going through the museum's collection to find the right sewing machine or historic apron. An avid quilter with experience working at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, she made several of the quilts in the exhibit.
The show is full of art: the quilts, modern and vintage; colorful weavings and tapestries; red-on-white embroidery. But the exhibit pays its main tribute to the everyday function as well as form. It honors the Americans of the past — mostly women, but many children — who spent their days with textiles: spinning, weaving, sewing and laboring in factories to make the products that now zip forth from machines.
"People don't think about where it all came from and how it got put together," Self says.
She and her team decided that the heart of the exhibit should be the three primary fibers of American settlers: wool, cotton and linen.
In the museum's front room, the wool area contains photos of sheep and wool, and information on the 17th-century wool industry. Self contributed a sheepskin rug that people can smooth down to see the crimp, a factor that helps determine quality when buying fleece.
Nearby, there's a basket of raw cotton, still packed with seeds; an indigo-dyed apron from the 1930s; and an image of slaves picking cotton. Visitors can handle the cotton to get an idea of the huge amount of work required to clean it before the cotton gin was invented. An exhibit card states that a 1,500-pound load of cotton produced 1,000 pounds of seed and only 500 of cotton lint.
In the linen area, the exhibit explains how linen fibers are drawn from flax-plant stalks, then bundled, dried and used. One illustration provides a cross-section of a flax stem. On a mannequin, a crisp-looking man's linen shirt from the 19th century stands watch.
Once viewers have been introduced to the basics of this fiber troika, a display of photos and drawings by museum volunteer Dick Clark pulls it all together by diagramming how fiber is made into fabric. He walks viewers through the picking, carding, spinning, warping and weaving.
And then, all around the museum, are the various inventions that have made these material miracles happen for centuries. There are drop spindles, which people used to spin thread by hand. Not very efficient, but portable. They were succeeded by spinning wheels, three of which stand elegantly in the main exhibit area.
Nearby are Hassett's looms. She looks at them fondly, working the bit of linen in her hands.
"I think the very first book I read was a children's version of 'The Odyssey,'" she says, thinking back to the ancient weaver Penelope. "When I graduated from high school, I went to stay at a friend's house, and she had a loom. I walked in and put my arms around it and said, 'I want to do this.'"
As looms got more advanced in the 19th century, the mechanical jacquard loom emerged. It kept track of complicated patterns with a system of cards. As such, it's part of the history of the personal computer. In fact, the jacquard loom on display at MOAH is on loan from the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
Other inventions on display include sewing machines from MOAH's collection, some painted with sphinxes or other designs. "Part of the selling thing was how elegant it would look in your living room," Self says.
Several shelves are full of vintage irons. One burned kerosene, with the scorch marks to prove it, while another needed to be loaded with coals. One weighs 18 pounds.
While the hard-working women of the past needed to be strong, it also helped to have an eye for color. One section on dyeing is bright with fibers dyed by onion skins, turmeric, mustard and the madder plant. People used urine, too; hence the chamber pot on display.
"The smell of these things was awful, and indigo was the worst of all," Self says. And costly. A price card from 1831 lists madder at 19 cents a pound and indigo at $2.25 a pound.
The images of slaves working are a sad side to the exhibit, as is the section on child labor. It includes black-and-white photos of little workers in the Northern factories of the 19th and early 20th centuries. They labored in frightening proximity to the huge machines' moving parts, often having to crawl under them to tie threads back together, Self says.
"One thing that you don't get from the pictures is the incredible amount of dust everywhere," Self says.
"And the noise," adds Lindsey Munzel, visitor-services specialist at the museum.
More cheerful are the exhibit's quilts. They include "Crown of Thorns," a 19th-century quilt hand-pieced from tiny pink cotton patterns, which were popular when other dyes were harder to come by. "Jacob's Ladder," from about 1890, includes a print of penny-farthing bicycles.
Munzel has added a "community quilt" section to the exhibit, where kids and adults can piece together fabric shapes and glue them to paper squares. All squares are being displayed on the wall.
Self harks back to the Depression with a reconstruction quilt she made with pieces of old feed sacks. The sacks were "a free source of fabric, often used for children's clothes, aprons and pillowcases," an exhibit card reads. A photo from 1940 shows an American family dressed in garb made from brightly printed sacks.
In those days, the manufacturers would sell sacks with different patterns, and wives would go with their husbands to pick out their favorites when it was time to buy feed, Self says. The photo is a perfect example of the exhibit paying tribute to the everyday fabric worker. The family doesn't look particularly well-fed, and the house is humble at best, but someone has clearly taken great care in sewing these feed-sack dresses, with every collar and hem and buttonhole crafted lovingly by hand.
What: "From Fiber to Fabric: A History of American Textile Production," an exhibit at the Museum of American Heritage
Where: 351 Homer Ave., Palo Alto
When: Through Aug. 18. The museum is open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
Info: Go to moah.org or call 650-321-1004.
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SOURCE: Stevia Corp.
January 09, 2013 09:00 ET
Company's Subsidiary Qualified for the First Aquaculture Insurance Policy Issued in China
Company's Subsidiary Qualified for the First Aquaculture Insurance Policy Issued in China
INDIANAPOLIS, IN--(Marketwire - Jan 9, 2013) - Stevia Corp. (OTCQB: STEV) ("Stevia Corp" or the "Company"), a farm management company focused on the economic development of stevia, the fastest growing product in the alternative sweetener sector, is pleased to announce that its aquaculture project in China is covered by the first Aquaculture Insurance Policy issued in the country.
The insurance coverage protects against loss of fish by disease or natural disaster and significantly reduces the project risk profile while greatly enhancing the project's reputation.
George Blankenbaker, Stevia Corp President, comments, "This will be a huge benefit for the aquaculture industry in China and is a testament to the quality of both our partners and our project. It should also provide a signal to capital providers who are looking for opportunities to participate in China aquaculture projects."
The insurance policy is underwritten by the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC), the largest insurance company in China and among the top ten insurance companies in the world. This is a significant development for the aquaculture industry in China which accounts for approximately 70 percent of the world aquaculture production.
Mr. Blankenbaker added, "We are proud of our local partners and that we are at the forefront of a significant development for the China aquaculture industry and this speaks volumes about the reputation and credibility of our management team and projects in which we are participating."
Further details of the Company's business, finances, appointments and agreements can be found as part of the Company's continuous public disclosure as a reporting issuer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission's ("SEC") EDGAR database. For more information visit: www.steviacorp.us.
About Stevia Corp. (OTCQB: STEV)
Stevia Corp. is a farm management company focused on best practice agronomic competency in order to deliver high-value stevia through proprietary plant breeding, excellent agricultural methodologies and innovative post-harvest techniques. To date, the Company has acquired two grower supply contracts and three nursery fields in Vietnam. For more information visit: www.steviacorp.us.
About the Stevia Industry Sector
Within two years of the USA market opening, Nielsen-based retail consumption data indicated almost $1 billion of retail sales for the sector. In 2010, stevia products were launched across thirty-five countries and in 38 categories. Zenith International estimates worldwide sales of stevia extract reached 3,500 tons in 2010 with an overall market value of $285 million and forecasts the global market for stevia will reach 11,000 tons by 2014 requiring the tripling of stevia leaf production at the farm level to keep pace with consumer demand. For more information visit: www.steviacorp.us.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, risk reduction, insurance coverage, business strategy, worldwide sales of stevia products and stevia extracts, growth of stevia leaf production and growth of the stevia global market. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Web: www.steviacorp.us
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Entrance to Stevia Corp. subsidiary (Stevia Technew) aqualculture technology base.
View Image: S M L
Several active ponds at Stevia Corp's subsidiary (Stevia Technew) aqualculture technology base in China.


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No Fences Make Bad NeighborsTerry Anderson, Roger Meiners
By forcing landowners to open their gates to anyone, neighborliness evaporates.
Senior Fellow
Terry L. Anderson is a senior fellow at PERC and the former president and executive director of PERC, as well as the John and Jean De Nault Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His research helped launch the idea of free market environmentalism and has prompted public debate over the proper role of government in managing natural resources. He is the co-chair of Hoover's Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force.
Anderson is the author or editor of 39 books. Among these, Free Market Environmentalism, co-authored with Donald Leal, received the 1992 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award. A revised edition was published in 2001.
His most recent books include Unlocking the Wealth of Indian Nations (Lexington Books, 2016), Free Market Environmentalism for the Next Generation (Palgrave, 2015), Environmental Markets: A Property Rights Approach (Cambridge University Press, 2014) and Tapping Water Markets (RFF Press, 2012). Other books include Property Rights: A Practical Guide to Freedom and Prosperity (Hoover Institution Press, 2003), co-authored with Laura Huggins, and The Not So Wild, Wild West: Property Rights on the Frontier (Stanford University Press, 2004), co-authored with Peter J. Hill, which was awarded the 2005 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award.
Anderson has published widely in the popular press and professional journals, including The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Fly Fisherman, Journal of Law and Economics, and Economic Inquiry. During his career at Montana State University, Anderson received several outstanding teaching awards and is now professor emeritus of economics. He received his B.S. from the University of Montana and earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington. In March 2011, Anderson received the Liberalni Institute Annual Award in Prague, Czech Republic, for his "Contribution to the Proliferation of Liberal Thinking, and Making Ideas of Liberty, Private Property, Competition, and the Rule of Law Come True." Previous recipients include Nobel laureates Milton Friedman, Gary Becker, and Vernon Smith.
Anderson is an avid outdoorsman accomplished at big-game hunting, bird shooting, fishing, skiing, and hiking.
By forcing landowners to open their gates to anyone, neighborliness evaporates.
The role of entrance fees in funding park management.
The environmental movement will have to rely more on market solutions if we wish to conserve our precious natural resources.
Abstract: Economists generally agree that more complete property rights lead to higher incomes, but rights are often constrained by other political and social goals. American…
Though it is perhaps an uncomfortable reality, trophy hunting can promote wildlife conservation.
Is the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act scientifically or politically based?


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So, just as Prime Minister Blair might have hoped the dust was finally settling, Californian researchers have discovered that childhood autism has tripled in the past 15 years. And, most significantly, they have laid to rest the old chestnut that the increase is simply down to better monitoring and understanding of the problem.
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Meanwhile, take-up levels will continue to fall until the government stops putting bully tactics in front of good science.
BUY our Vaccination Bible or our special report, What The Government Doesn't Tell You About the MMR Vaccine, today for all the background facts to this long-running saga. Visit our website http://www.wddty.co.uk to order your copy.


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What to CookCommunity
Editors' Picks — The Recipe You Want To Be Remembered For
Any food52 member is welcome to help us test our Editors' Pick candidates, so go call dibs on the recipe you'd like to test in the comments section below! We'd love to see some new testers in the mix. Don't forget to email us your notes (about 100 words) to [email protected] by next Tuesday at 5pm.
We'll collect your comments, decide the official list of Editors' Picks and publish your evaluation in the headnote if the recipe is selected as an Editors' Pick (with credit, of course!). And even if the recipe you test isn't chosen as an Editors' Pick, please feel free to leave your testing notes in the recipe's comments section. Constructive criticism is always encouraged!
- Editors' Picks (these are the ones we've tested — congratulations!)
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